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Mike Pettine hopes no-nonsense attitude leads to wins in Cleveland

By Jeff Schudel, The News-Herald

Posted:
01/23/2014 06:57:32 PM MST

Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine speaks during a news conference Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in Berea, Ohio. Buffalo's defensive coordinator, who met with team officials for the first time just a week ago, finalized a contract Thursday to become the NFL football team's seventh full-time coach since 1999. (Tony Dejak/Associated Press)

The Browns new head coach has a nickname skeptical fans might come to appreciate if it translates to his team on Sunday afternoons.“I've been nicknamed B.F.T. – Blunt Force Trauma – before,” Mike Pettine said Thursday about 40 minutes after being introduced by CEO Joe Banner in the fieldhouse at Browns headquarters in Berea. “The days are too short to dance around subjects sometimes, and I think guys appreciate that. You still have to find a way to be critical of players without being demeaning. I think that's a skill coaches have to have.”Pettine, 47, is the 15th full-time head coach in Browns history and the seventh since returning to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999. He is taking over a team that finished 4-12 in 2013.Pettine's only experience as a head coach was at two Pennsylvania High Schools from 1995-2001. He was head coach at William Tennant High School in Warminster, Pa., in 1995-96 and from 1997-2001 was head coach at North Penn High in Towamenican where he won 45 games in five seasons.Mike Pettine Sr. was Pettine's coaching inspiration. The elder Pettine was 5-0 against his son while coaching at Central Bucks High School in Doylestown, Pa. Mike Pettine Sr. retired in 1999 as the winningest high school coach in Pennsylvania history with a record of 326-32-4.“My foundations still goes back to my dad,” Pettine Jr. said at his introductory press conference. “He was a guy that, to me, just understood football from A-Z.

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He wasn't an offensive specialist, a defensive specialist; he was just pure football through and through. “Playing for him was a rough experience. I really wanted to get away from football after I was done playing for him, but after a while ended up circling back and just fell in love with the game. That's what I'm most passionate about and it's something that, again, he gave me the advice that I think a lot of good parents give: Find a job that you love and you'll never work a day in your life. I've been fortunate to pair my passion with my profession.The younger Pettine made the jump to coaching and video assistant with the Baltimore Ravens in 2002 – the absolute lowest rung on the NFL coaching ladder – and rose steadily to become the New York Jets defensive coordinator in 2009. He held that job for four years. He was the defensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills in 2013.Pettine, a former quarterback, was the seventh of 10 coaching candidates interviewed by Banner and team owner Jimmy Haslam after they fired Rob Chudzinski as head coach on Dec. 29.One by one, candidates either withdrew – Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase (before even being interviewed) pulled out of the running – or took other jobs. Former Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt took the head coaching job with Tennessee, former Packers quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo is the new offensive coordinator of the New York Giants and former Titans head coach Mike Munchak is the Steelers new offensive line coach.Haslam and Banner decided to not conduct a second interview with Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is preparing to face the Broncos in the Super Bowl a week from Sunday.Pettine is not concerned whether he was Haslam's first choice as head coach.“That to me is not an issue,” Pettine said. “That's come up before. Much has been made of the number of candidates that have been interviewed. That doesn't factor into my thinking at all. I wasn't going to be like, 'If I'm not the first choice, I'm not going to take it.' It's been my lifelong dream to be an NFL head coach. However that opportunity presents itself is fine with me.”Haslam said he and Banner met for a total of 12 hours over three meetings with Pettine. Haslam said he was impressed by the toughness Pettine exhibits.Indeed, Pettine has a no-nonsense look. He is completely bald and wears a goatee. He was dressed in a blue pinstripe suit for the press conference, but as soon as it ended planned to change into sweats and start forming his coaching staff.“He's very smart, he's aggressive, he's innovative,” Haslam said. “I think you can see he's tough. He's going to be very demanding. He's going to set high standards for our organization. I personally talked to several Buffalo Bills players that I happen to have a relationship with and they could not have been more complimentary about how demanding he was and what a good person he was.“(He's got) a little Bill Cowher toughness. He's got that Cowher jaw, I believe. Let's face it; we play in the AFC North. I think he's going to bring the kind of toughness we need to compete with those teams. You're not going to get very far if you're not competitive in your division. I think he'll bring that attitude to our team.”Cowher was head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1992-2006.Writers covering the NFL used words like “toxic” and “radioactive” to describe the national perception of the Browns during the coaching search. Haslam said that perception was fostered by the media. He knows however, Browns fans are skeptical, especially since Chudzinski was fired after one year, and few fans knew of Pettine until his name surfaced on Jan. 15.“Absolutely (we have to prove something to fans), but I take that as a compliment.” Haslam said. “I talk to some of these owners who say they wish they had the kind of interest we do. There's no doubt there's passion here. I don't take that as a negative.“What would be bad is if nobody cared. I take that as a real compliment and one of the great assets of this organization that the fans are so enthusiastic, they are so fired up and they want to win. Hell, so do I. I get it. I'm a fan, too.”The Browns have lost 11 or more games for six straight seasons. They have won one playoff (1994) since playing in the AFC championship game in 1989. The 2014 season marks the 50th anniversary of the Browns' most recent NFL championship.

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